CFTC Probes Whether Large Position Distorted Prices as Other Agencies Near Settlement With Bank

WASHINGTON—The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, pursuing a probe into last year's "London whale" trades even as other agencies near a settlement with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., is focusing on a giant trading position that enforcement officials believe distorted prices and misled investors, according to people familiar with the matter.

The CFTC is focusing on the bank's increasingly aggressive trades made over several months early last year, when it added tens of billions of dollars to its derivatives...